Butter of the Month: Plugra Extra-Creamy Salted Butter

Unboring Rating – 3 cows out of 4 cows

The French do it better.

And by ‘it’ we mean butter. We still remember the first time we set foot in a Parisian Boulangerie. An intoxicating aroma of buttery “pheromones” slapped us in the face, hacked into our brain, and released enough dopamine to make us contemplate moving to France permanently. In that moment, we knew not all butters were created equal.

French-made butter is unapologetically sexy and luxurious. Indeed, the typical everyday butter in America seems an inferior “genetic product” by comparison. Over twenty years ago, French-worthy (a.k.a. European-Style) butter was difficult to come by. The reason was simple: the USDA requires all dairy products be heat pasteurized for food safety reasons. The heat pasteurization process sterilizes the cream and, in the process, kills all those lovely bacteria cultures that give French-made butter its rich and distinct flavor.

That’s where Plugra enters the picture.

Plugra European-Style Butter was the first domestic butter producer that succeeded in transplanting our taste buds to that Parisian Boulangerie. Plugra butter not only contains a higher butterfat percentage, but also mimics French-made butter in taste. The butter has a rich smooth tang that resembles the unpasteurized butter in France. The result is better tasting everything. Plugra quickly became the de facto butter in fine dining kitchens across the country.

But Plugra had a dirty little secret.

That dirty little secret was in the ingredient line: Pasteurized Cream, Salt, Natural Flavor. Natural Flavor? Chefs began to view Plugra the same way they viewed truffle oil which often may contain added flavors (versus a truly natural product). Both products undeniably added a luxurious taste to their dishes, but there was a negative halo due to the added flavoring. A true Chef would use actual truffles in season versus using a truffle-flavored oil. That same logic would certainly apply to such an important kitchen staple like butter. Plugra began to fall out of favor with many Chefs as a result.

Nowadays, there are several excellent small-batch French-worthy butters produced in America that don’t rely on “Natural Flavors” to deliver that authentic taste. Plugra Butter does claim that there are no artificial ingredients added. However, the FDA’s definition of what constitutes an artificial ingredient versus a natural one is extremely subtle. Here’s the FDA’s definition for both:

“The term artificial flavor or artificial flavoring means any substance, the function of which is to impart flavor, which is not derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, fish, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof. Artificial flavor includes the substances listed in 172.515(b) and 582.60 of this chapter except where these are derived from natural sources.

The term natural flavor or natural flavoring means the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional. Natural flavors, include the natural essence or extractives obtained from plants listed in subpart A of part 582 of this chapter, and the substances listed in 172.510 of this chapter.”

Both definitions sound strikingly similar, right? A producer can add a flavor and claim that flavor is “natural” as long as it isn’t one of the substances on the FDA’s artificial flavor/flavoring list and it is a derivative of a natural substance whose function is to impart flavor versus nutrition. Based on this criteria, the list of ingredients a producer could add to a manufactured food and claim as ‘natural’ is very long.

To be fair, Plugra isn’t adding Yellow 5 or anything that egregious to its butter. The offense is more of a philosophical matter to Chefs. A Chef loses credibility if she promotes the use of in-season organic ingredients on one hand while using a butter with added flavor on the other. 

Does any of this matter to the everyday consumer?

This is the central question that we debated. We pride ourselves on using only the highest quality ingredients in our granola—everything from organic heirloom oats to pure butter to pure vanilla extract. Would we proudly use Plugra butter to make our Butter Baked Granola?

The answer is yes.

In the universe of “bad” ingredients, the added flavor Plugra uses to make its butter taste authentic is absolutely forgivable. There are domestic butter producers that make very strong European-style butters by using actual cultures not added flavors, but those butters are not as successful in mimicking French-made butter.

The most relevant analog here is Ranch seasoning. Have you ever tried to mimic Ranch seasoning using natural ingredients? Good luck with that one. You might get close, but you’ll never achieve that same zesty pop and flavor. The reason is MSG (monosodium glutamate). MSG adds that proverbial je ne sais quoi you can’t get with salt.

The point is that if you crave that specific Ranch flavor, then you’re going to have to compromise on your commitment to all-natural and clean ingredients to truly satisfy that craving. In our opinion, the same is true of Plugra butter. Consider this our Unboring exception on the use of added flavors.

If you haven’t tried Plugra Butter, then get thee to thy grocery store and pick some up. To fully appreciate the taste, we recommend purchasing the Unsalted Butter version and spreading it on some excellent French baguette with a dash of Maldon salt. You’ll experience the closest thing to “tasting Paris” in a single bite.

For this reason, we are awarding Plugra Extra Creamy Salted Butter (and any Plugra Butter for that matter) with a three cow rating. As a Michelin Guide inspector would say, no other rating would be appropriate.

Key Takeaway

The name Plugra is derived from the French term plus gras which translates to “more fat.” As with many things that pertain to food and language, the French version is usually better. Plugra attempted to buck that trend and, to some, may have “cheated” in the process.

But Plugra was working with fundamentally different ingredients.

When you consider the goal post entailed producing an authentic tasting French-worthy butter in a pasteurized environment, the end justified the means.

At least that’s what we tell ourselves every time we crave Plugra or Ranch dip. 

We do not receive any form of compensation for our reviews by any of the butter brands we feature. The views expressed in our blog are solely based on our own opinions.